Category : File Managers
Archive   : RX.ZIP
Filename : RX.DOC

19 February 1988

Documentation for RX.ARC


The Files:

The RX.ARC file should contain three files

RX.DOC (this file)
RX.COM (file manager)
RN.COM (directory manager that calls RX.COM)
RX.ASM (assembly source for RX.COM)


The Reasons:

The files RX.COM and RN.COM are file utilities that are slight modifications
of three programs (DR.COM, RN.COM and CO.COM) written by M. Mefford and
appearing in PC Magazine. We have taken the liberty of modifying the
assembly language listings available from PC Magazine's Interactive Reader
Service to fit better our personal needs and tastes; in particular we wanted
both the copying capabilities of CO.COM and the file viewing capabilities of
DR.COM. We are making these available on the off chance that there may be
others who share our sentiments. (Note that the original code is still
protected by the Ziff-Davis copyright.)

It should be realized that these changes have been made solely because the
two of us - neither assembly language programmers - felt the original
programs could be improved a bit, and because we wanted to try. It would
surprise neither of us to find that our solutions are not optimal, and it
would be even less surprising to learn that the modifications are in fact
trivial. So it goes; that's what happens when you let a mathematician and
a statistician near a program.


The Programs:

RN.COM is nothing more than a copy of Mefford's RN.COM patched so that F10
now calls RX.COM and not DR.COM and a corresponding patch to the menu. We
have toyed with the idea of modifying RN.COM so that one can change drives
while still in the program, but nothing has come of that yet - and likely
never will.

RX.COM is a modification of CO.COM, the modification being the
transplantation of the code for viewing files from DR.COM into CO.COM. This
worked almost without a hitch, but there were some difficulties concerning
the different ways each program handled directories. Everything seems to be
working fine now.


The Instructions:

-For those familiar with RN, DR, and CO:

RN operates precisely as it always has. F10 now calls RX.COM on the
highlighted directory rather than calling DR.COM.

RX works identically to CO with the addition of the carriage return
enabling the viewing of the highlighted file. At that point all of
the cursor keys are active as in the viewing with DR.

NOTE: The WordStar toggle which was available in DR has been set
to ON and can not be changed from the menu. This seemed the most
useful choice for us; everything seemed readable. If you are
going to view binary files though, perhaps this configuration
might not be the best (we know a toggle would be better - we
already said we weren't REAL programmers!) and this default can
be changed in the RX.ASM source - look for WORDSTAR_BIT.


-For those not familiar with RN, DR, and CO:

Both of these programs are menu-driven and that is probably the
easiest way to learn their features - play with them. RN is a utility
that presents a visual tree listing of the subdirectory structure of a
selected drive. It then enables you to add, delete, rename, hide, un-
hide subdirectories. It also allows you to change to a selected
subdirectory. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, RN will call RX
on a selected subdirectory, and upon exiting from RX you will be back
in RN.

NOTES: 1) There is a memory-resident option for RN, which no
doubt is very useful, but we haven't played with it so
if you are interested please refer to the article in PC
Magazine.

2) For RN to call RX successfully it seems to need to find
COMMAND.COM somewhere in the path.

RX is a wonderful directory lister and file handler. It allows you to
do batch copies, moves, and deletes. Each of these is accomplished by
marking the chosen files with the grey plus (+) key [files can be
unmarked using grey minus (-)] and then using the appropriate
function key. Don't be shy; try it out and see how nicely it works.
The Verify toggle refers to DOS-copy-verification, all of the copy-
move-delete options ask for user verification whenever they are
selected. The directory can be sorted by name, extension, size, or
date - this can be accomplished either while in RX or from the command
line using a /? on the command line, where the "?" can be replaced by
N, S, E, D (or T) for sorting by Name, Size, Extension, or DaTe,
respectively. Additionally, use of the function keys can be replaced
by entering control-shifted characters where ^C, ^D, ^M, ^N, ^E, ^S,
^T, and ^V activate the Copying, Deleting, Moving, sorting by Name,
sorting by Extension, sorting by Size, sorting by daTe, and the Verify
toggle, respectively. The Esc key will abort any of the move, copy
or delete functions at the verification prompt.

Finally, and this is the exciting part, the Return key (carriage
return, Enter, whatever you want to call it) activates a full-screen
browse of the highlighted files. At this point the cursor control
keys (at least those in the vertical direction along with PgUp, PgDn,
Home, and End) allow you to view any part of the file! A Return or
Esc lands you back in the directory display.


More Stuff:

Yes, we are aware of the program QD that is available as a "shareware"
extension of DR and CO. It does many things that RX does not do. It is
also, at least in the latest version we've seen (3.30), only distributed in
TSR form which we consider a drawback. It is also a commercial/shareware
program, and the author requests a "contribution" of $15 - $40. RX is free,
and you are welcome to use it as you wish, subject of course to the original
copyright by Ziff-Davis on the programs as well as the original source code.


If you are interested in consulting the articles concerning the original
programs DR.COM, RN.COM, and CO.COM, the references are:

DR.COM Volume 6 Number 14 August 1987
RN.COM Volume 6 Number 16 29 September 1987
CO.COM Volume 6 Number 21 8 December 1987



If you have any questions that you think we can answer or any comments that
you think we should know about, we can be reached at the following address:

William Halteman Charlie Slavin
Department of Mathematics
University of Maine
Orono, Maine 04469


Charlie can also be reached at the following bulletin boards:

Forbin 319-233-6157
UMaine 207-581-1595
Lunacy 818-894-1248
Motherboard 303-241-1966
VOR (when I can get through) 415-994-2944

or on GENIE at mailbox C.SLAVIN1